IRON BOY - Review | Cannes Film Festival 2026

Louis Clichy's latest film strongly showcases his talent as a former Pixar animator with this dazzling and intense debut. Featuring such a vibrant and simplistic use of low-frame-rate hand-drawn animation, which is always refreshing in this current state of films. Especially during select sequences when the lead boy's frustration with his neck brace is represented with him causing havoc when drastically changing the direction of gravity. Even with this smaller-scaled coming-of-age story of a boy trying to balance his family and personal needs, its scale and presentation always feels limitless, even with the harshness from situations that it can capture. Despite some superficial character writing, the creative visuals and sympathetic leads on display results with letting the world known about another phenomenon of animation, similar to Gints Zilbalodis with Flow (2024).

Still Courtesy – Sony Pictures Classics

Set in rural France, the story follows 11-year-old Christophe (portrayed by Gary Clichy) as he struggles to live up to the expectations of his strict and emotionally distant father while helping on the family's financially struggling farm. After a mysterious illness leaves him unable to stand properly, he is forced to wear a rigid iron brace that dramatically changes his daily life and distances him from the demanding farm work. As he adjusts to his new reality, Christophe discovers an unexpected passion for playing the parish church organ under the guidance of an elderly organist (portrayed by Jean-Pascal Zadi), opening the door to a new sense of purpose and self-expression.

After building an impressive career in animation at Pixar, where he contributed to WALL·E and Up, before co-directing the acclaimed Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods and Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion, Louis Clichy steps out on his own with Iron Boy. His first solo feature immediately showcases the confidence of a filmmaker who understands both the technical and emotional possibilities of animation, trading polished 3D spectacle for a deeply personal hand-drawn aesthetic inspired by his own childhood experiences.

From its opening moments, the film demonstrates why traditional animation remains such a powerful storytelling medium. Rendered with expressive, low-frame-rate hand-drawn visuals, every frame feels handcrafted rather than manufactured, giving the coming-of-age story an identity all its own. Clichy uses this style to extraordinary effect during the moments when young Christophe's frustration over wearing his restrictive iron brace manifests itself through gravity-bending bursts of imagination. These visually inventive sequences transform his emotional turmoil into spectacular displays of chaos, perfectly capturing the overwhelming feelings of adolescence in ways that live action simply could not.

Beneath its imaginative presentation lies an intimate story about growing up, balancing family expectations, and searching for personal identity. Although the narrative remains relatively small in scope, following a boy struggling to reconcile his responsibilities at home with his own aspirations, the emotional and visual ambition makes the experience feel remarkably expansive. Whether depicting the hardships of rural family life or the quiet victories that accompany self-discovery, Clichy consistently finds ways to elevate ordinary moments into something magical without ever losing sight of the grounded emotions driving the story.

The screenplay occasionally falls into somewhat simplistic characterization, with several supporting figures lacking the same depth afforded to Christophe and his immediate family. Even so, those shortcomings are overshadowed by the film's extraordinary artistic vision and the heartfelt sincerity of its central relationships. Through its inventive visuals and deeply sympathetic protagonist, Iron Boy announces Louis Clichy as one of animation's most exciting emerging auteurs. Much like Gints Zilbalodis did with Flow (2024), this feature proves that bold artistic choices and emotional authenticity can leave an even greater impact than technical spectacle alone, resulting in one of the year's most memorable animated achievements.

Verdict

8/10

Still Courtesy – Sony Pictures Classics